not so bitter
by CaelumBlue
Summary: The Avatar after Wan needs an earthbending teacher, and goes to ask an old friend.


**Been a rough week, eh?**

 **I've been having the worst time getting more writing done, and while it's likely been regular life and work stress the election stress didn't help. But I DESPERATELY wanted to create *something* so I managed to get this out. This is one of those fics I've wanted to write for a while and had a vague idea for and I FINALLY managed to get it out. So I'm happy for that at least. Enjoy!**

o0O0o

The guards drew their weapons of choice - spears, swords, and stone rising to aim at the potential threat - but Aapti's eyes remained fixed on the deceptively fragile, white-haired lady seated on the throne. Despite the blades at Aapti's unprotected back, the motionless woman was the most important - and the most _dangerous_ \- person in the room.

 _Don't look away,_ Raava whispered, and Aapti took a deep breath at the encouragement. _Stand firm._

The old queen gazed back, impervious and still as stone.

From his place beside the throne, the captain of the guard opened his mouth - only to cut his order short at the rise of a single wrinkled hand. He glanced at his queen before snapping at his men. "Stand down!"

There were some small clatters and scuffles as the weapons were lowered, still ready to be brandished again at a moment's notice. Aapti stood firm, still holding the queen's gaze. The old woman watched her a moment longer before slowly standing with the help of a cane. Aapti couldn't help but briefly break her gaze away from the queen's to look at the stick - it was simple wood, staff and scepter all at once, and Aapti _knew_ it. She'd never seen it or this woman before in her life, and yet somehow, she knew that piece of wood, carved from a long-dead tree that had grown atop a nearby mountain, where it'd once borne witness to the fateful meeting of two enemies who would become so much more. Aapti brushed the old memory (not even _hers_ ) aside and looked back at the queen.

The old woman's brows rose ever-so-slightly. "You know," she said, standing on the dais, "when I first heard that some young thing was going around, claiming to be the _reincarnation_ of Wan the Peacekeeper, the Vanquisher of Vaatu, the Keeper of Balance, the Bridge Between the Worlds, I thought: What sort of disrespectful, deluded person would claim such a thing?"

Raava was a bundle of warm appreciation in the back of Aapti's mind, grateful to this old friend who held Wan's memory so dear. Aapti found that she was touched as well - generally the people who were skeptical of her identity were skeptical of Wan in general.

The old queen began descending the dais's few stairs, her cane tapping with every step down the smooth sandstone. "When I heard this person was claiming to be the Avatar of Raava as well, I thought: Surely this child must be suffering from delusions of grandeur, in addition to hubris, sacrilege, and insolence. And now here you are."

She'd reached the bottom of the dais steps now, and was slowly but steadily making her way across the floor to Aapti. The young airbender very nearly stepped back from the queen's advances - the old woman wasn't _stopping_ and they were running out of floor tiles between them - but Raava said _Hold your ground_ and the young airbender pushed past her instincts and held firm. She had to do this.

"Swooping down from the sky into my palace with nary a warning, barrelling your way past my guards, inviting yourself into my throne room, having the utter _cheek_ to _demand_ that I teach you earthbending, claiming it's necessary for the good of the world and to help you maintain what your supposed predecessor fought so hard for…"

The queen finally, _finally_ stopped toe-to-toe with Aapti, and she stared at the young airbender with light green eyes gone milky with age (but a gaze no less sharp or intense than it'd been in youth, remembered some part of Aapti that wasn't exactly _her_ ), and her mouth pursed.

Aapti held both her breath and the old woman's gaze.

After a long moment, Queen Oma of Omashu huffed. "You haven't changed a _bit_."

Aapti couldn't quite bite back a laugh. "Really?" she asked, pointedly looking at herself.

"Hmph." Oma smacked Aapti's shin with her cane.

"Ow!"

"You may be an airbender, young lady," said Oma, "but you're also a stubborn, foolhardy brat with no sense of self-preservation and an obsession with saving the world and balance and the _greater good_. You've more than proven yourself to be the reincarnation of Wan, as far as I'm concerned."

 _I told you she'd believe you,_ Raava hummed _._

Oma looked Aapti up and down. "I suppose Raava is with you?"

"She is," Aapti said.

"Hm," said Oma, tapping her cane on the ground thoughtfully. "I must admit, this is strange," she said. "Very strange. But if you truly are Wan, reborn into this world...I am glad." Her smile was sad. "It's good to know he's not completely gone."

"None of us ever are," Aapti said gently.

Oma took a sharp breath and looked around the throne room, her eyes landing on the wide windows spanning the western wall and looking out over the city she'd created to end a war. "No," she murmured, eyes glistening. "I suppose we aren't."

 _She was always such a good friend._ A pause, and then, musingly, _I suppose she always will be._

Aapti smiled. "So," she said, "you'll teach me earthbending?"

The old queen fixed the young Avatar with a considering smirk. "Oh, I'll teach," Oma said. "Let's see if you're able to learn."

o0O0o

 **Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment if you enjoyed! :)**

 **Title is from the fact that Avatars tend to use the word "bitter" in conjunction with learning earthbending ("Bitter Work" being both the title of the ep where Toph teaches Aang and how Roku describes his own training). Oma's glad to hear Wan's still kicking around in some incarnation tho, so it's not as bitter as it could be.**

 **I've always figured some (a lot of) people would have a hard time believing the Avatar cycle was a thing, so poor Aapti's gotta deal with a lot of detractors. Oh well. By third incarnation they'll probably have a good idea of how it works.**

 **Aapti's name means "fulfillment" in Nepali, btw.**

 **And I've left some minor allusions to Oma being a preincarnation of Toph, because that's a headcanon of mine.**

 **Maybe someday if I come up with anything good I'll write about The Amazing Adventures of Oma and Wan (and Possibly Also Shu). Nothing's biting me right now, tho.**

 **Thanks again for reading! I'm on tumblr at caelum-in-the-avatarverse if you're interested in chatting about ATLA stuff, tho I'm not as active on there as I'd like to be. :)**


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